1 entry from January 2018

January 02, 2018

That’s probably not a surprise if you were paying attention to the website you just surfed to. It’s stevehockensmith.com, not evehockensmith.com. Sure, I could be Eve writing as Steve to sucker all those readers who want their writers super-manly. You know. Like that delectable hunk of man-meat James Patterson. But if a woman wanted to write under a male nom de plume, why the heck would she choose “Steve Hockensmith”? Brock Dashwood -- now there’s a pen name! That dude’s got a yacht and a six-pack (and not the kind I have in the fridge with “Pabst Blue Ribbon” on the bottles).

When I say I’m a guy, I don’t just mean biologically…though in these anything goes times, I suppose it’s not a bad idea to be 100% clear about that. So, yes: I am biologically male. I think in the modern parlance that’s “cis male”…? Which sounds a bit like “sissy male” to my confused guy ears. And that’s a bit ironic, as “sissy male” is exactly how my peers in high school probably thought of me. Because I’m a guy, you see, but I’m not necessarily a guy’s guy.

I don’t think sports cars or motorcycles are cool. I find football to be kind of stupid. I never had Farrah Fawcett-Majors or Pamela Sue Anderson on my bedroom wall (or on my mind -- not my type). Not so guy-ish.

But on the other hand…

I love barbecuing. I love beer. I have a hard time dressing myself in matching clothes. Guy!

But on the other hand…

I get a deep, soulful sense of satisfaction from cooking for my family. I waste long stretches of time watching cat videos on Facebook. I can’t stand professional wrestling or the Three Stooges.

But on the other hand…

I like (good) martial arts movies. I’m terrible with names. I hate talking on the phone. Guy stuff, right?

But on the other hand…

I like books and movies and TV shows with a light, comedic approach to murder mysteries. I prefer protagonists who aren’t hard-boiled macho men. I dig it when the crime genre doesn’t take itself so seriously. In other words: I’m down with cozies.

Do I have to turn in my guy card now?

Some people might say so. Or, if not my guy card, at least my serious writer card. But as you might have guessed already, I don’t particularly care about being a card-carrying guy or a “serious writer.”

I’ve written three cozy-ish novels with a female partner and a female protagonist -- the third, Give the Devil His Due, came out last spring -- and as I was planning the series I was aware that I’d need to get in touch with my feminine side. So when it came time to make up a name for the town our hero, tarot reader Alanis McLachlan, would have her adventures in, I went with “Berdache, Arizona.” “Berdache” being an old, not particularly politically correct (I’ve since learned) term for Native American “two-spirit people” -- i.e., individuals who are neither purely male nor purely female. And “Arizona” being…well, Arizona.

I liked basing Alanis in a place called Berdache because she has a mixture of stereotypically feminine and masculine traits herself. She’s cocky and jaded and wise-cracking but vulnerable and empathetic, too. Plus, she’s a creation of a man and a woman: me and my partner on the series, tarot expert Lisa Falco.

But I’m realizing now that I’m a bit of a Berdache myself. At least to this extent: I have soft spots for baseball and the Bee Gees, I enjoy cheap beer and fruity cocktails, and I respect hardboiled crime fiction and cozies. If that makes me less of a guy...well, I’ll console myself by throwing a steak on the grill, popping a John Wayne movie into the DVD player and pouring my effeminate self a cold PBR.